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A Dark Philosophy Records
ADP Records is a record label that began in 2007 as an imprint for the A Dark Philosophy Podcast Series in Marengo, Illinois, the label moved to the city Los Angeles, California in early 2008. Because of it's proximity, correspondence and mail-orders are handled through their Los Angeles post office box. The label's releases consist primarily of rap and metal bands from across the world. However, the label is not limited to these genres.. It was founded by Ronnie Neeley and Chris Humphrey, and was most successful late 2007. Biography The early years The idea of an independent record label came up when Knife left Adversary Recordings earlier than finishing his EP album Money Sex Power. Although completing it by himself and producing the tracks alone, the vision of the label remained unrealized. The label was an imprint structured underneath the "A Dark Philosophy" satanic podcast series. The label is a pioneering Satanic record label set up by Ronnie Neeley but finally it was independently co-founded in late 2007 with Chris Humphrey. It started as a place to house many artists that had ties with Knife in the past but were not currently signed to a label, as well as some newcomers. However, Knife mainly used the label for his own releases, and as a result many artists left. Originally the label was created for the purpose of releasing albums by Neeley's techno/trance project Electric.Vampire and by its member's derivative side projects. Over time, they have expanded to also distribute music by other independent music artists both within and outside of the United States, ADP has become a leading Major-Indie label globally. The label specializes mainly in distributing music by DIY independent music artists that either stand against or are largely ignored by mainstream media, mostly of extreme or experimental nature. ADP Records has released albums by a variety of artists with diverse musical backgrounds, including, but certainly not limited to experimental rock, techno, thrash metal, prog-rock, indie rock, and rap. ADP Records doesn't stick to a particular genre and they work mainly with bands/artists who are open-minded, non-religious or Satanists. ADP Records mainly manages, among others, several satanic themed bands and also continues to co-manage many of its artists after they have signed recording contracts with one of the major record labels. Late June 2007 sought a partnership between ADP Records with Knife's own distribution company, Ruthless Enemy, LLC. Knife, a Chicano gangster rapper, was surprisingly signed to the label in late summer 2007 after the artist expressed his distaste with the Scrub Records vanity label SC Records after his East Los Most Wanted album didn't sell to expectations. As well as being a fully functional record label, music promoter and distributor, they provide a website with their radio show providing music for the masses. As well as having several feature shows, they also showcase many of their artists. In late 2007, founders Ronnie Neeley and Chris Humphrey left the label (both with their projects, and with managing the label) to focus on different projects, and music in general. Decline and reorganization By 2008, the label barely flourishing, making hundreds on every release, and Absentation's release, Mental Battle Resurrection, debuted at Number One on the Indie Charts. Knife began to branch outside of rap, and even tried to make the NBA. As for ADP Records, each release featured less and less of the marquee artists, leading their fans to the correct conclusion that they had left the label. By February 2008, only Knife, Absentation, and DJ Mambo Del Diablo remained from the most celebrated artists. DJ Clueless and a long list of new artists such as Locs, Kasper Kane, and others had replaced the early artists that had help elevate ADP Records to the heights of their success. Electric.Vampire and Apis, and their albums haven't even been debuted and will never see a release. Fluid Dynamic and Azazel left due to disagreements with the label. Many of the ADP artists did not reach longevity and left for other projects. By March 2008, it would appear that the focus of ADP Records was limited to Satanists. This notion was further strengthened with the upcoming release of an Absentation side project, a debut album featuring a member of the band. On February 2008, the company has been seized by none other than the aforementioned artists Knife and DJ Mambo Del Diablo, who will also reorganize the label alongside imprint label Neighborhood Records. Knife realized it was more sensible to shut down ADP then reorganize and refinance the company with profits from ADP Records. He would name his new label "A Dark Philosophy Records" instead of the original ADP. By late February, the reorganized label had moved to Koch Records for distribution and then to Kunaki. The new ADP Records is now in partnership with Knife's own record label/distribution company, Neighborhood Records. Locs was also signed, and later dropped from the label. It was originally reported that his album, then titled "Knife presents Locs aka LOAK The Process", since retitled The Process Vol.1, was suppose to be re-released with new artwork and liner notes but due to poor sales the album wont be seeing a reissue any time soon, however a follow up album entitled "The Process Vol. 2" is set to come out on 2010. Khaos Faktory was also released from the label in 2009, citing differences in direction. In early 2009, Neeley commented on the direction of ADP Records, saying, "I'm glad to see it is still doing well, and give all the props to Knife for doing so. I wish the best of luck to him, and to all the artists who are, and were, on the label." Neeley has been focusing on learning to play various instruments, and also mentioned he is "still a fan of Knife's music". Upon recommendation from Neighborhood Records head, ADP signed grindcore band Nihilistic Outlaw Criminal Order in October with their EP release "Hate Crimes" scheduled for a Halloween release. The following year, will see a few more releases by them and as well as their side projects. In 2013, Ruthless Enemy, Knifer's distribution company that owns ADP, has gone bankrupt and is selling both the label and catalog to a publicly held company. The deal is set to be closed on Christmas Day. In 2014, Kunaki, LLC purchased the rights to the ADP Records catalogue, representing one of the most successful alternative genre catalogues in the music industry. Kunaki invested £1.0 thousand in content rights and television programmes in the following years and 1.2 thousand ($3,000) to purchase the iconic music library assets of ADP Records. Management *President & CEO: Marvin Aborca Sotelo *Vice President: Bryan Valdez *Vice President of A&R (Artist and Repertoire) for ADP Records: Matthew Lane *General manager of ADP Records: Jocelyn Sotelo *Manager: S.A. Alghalayeeni *Executive Producer: Marvin Aborca Sotelo *Management for website/accessories matters : DJ Mambo Del Diablo *Accentuate PR for ADP Records: Jody Griggs Active Roster *Absentation *Knife *Grizz Lee *The Mad Poet *DJ Mambo Del Diablo *DJ Clueless *The F.O.E. *Rhyme God *Dru *Umbra Blasphemia *Nihilistic Outlaw Criminal Order (now Crucified Society) *Frosty 9 Glock * Jennifer Nagini Inactive Roster *Electric.Vampire *Apis *Fluid Dynamic *Azazel *Khaos Faktory *Locs (aka Loak) *Nito (from Neighborhood Records) *Bobby Blaze (from Neighborhood Records) *Kasper Kane *B.G. Illuminati *Nat Vin G Key Releases :Absentation *Mental Battle Resurrection *Beyond Absentation (Single) :Knife *Money Sex Power *Eastside Story (Single) :Kasper Kane *Kasper Kane Album *R.I.P.(Single) :Knife & Dem6n6l6gy187 *Heaven's Gate Continues... *Other Gods (Single) :Knife *Knife N Tha Neighborhood *On A Sunday Night (Single) :Nito *East Side Mentality *East Siders Ways (Single) :Knife *Sell Your Soul *Fuck The World (Single) :Nihilistic Outlaw Criminal Order *Hate Crimes E.P. *The South Will Rise Again (Single) Further Reading * Absentation - Death Metal band from Syria * The Mad Poet - Spoken Word artist from the United States * Kasper Kane - Industrial artist from the United States * The Poet of Truth - Acapella/Rap artist from the United States * Knife - Gangster Rap artist from the United States * B.G. Illuminati - Gangster Rap artist from Canada * Nat Vin G - Experimental music artist from the United Kingdom * Dru - Spoken Word artist from Canada. * Nihilistic Outlaw Criminal Order - Grindcore band from the United States Category: Label